March 18, 2012

Mordecai Lee, a UW-Milwaukee political science professor and former Democratic state lawmaker who served with the former governor, said Thompson believed in using government to achieve conservative goals.

"That is a marked departure from modern Republican dogma," he said. "Now, they want to kill the beast. They believe government is the problem. Compare old Tommy to Sen. Ron Johnson. They are as different as the North and South pole."

Old Tommy. He's 70. He's got opposition in the Republican primary, but he's leading in the polls. Whoever wins the Republican primary is, I think, very likely to win the Senate seat, because the the opponent is probably going to be Tammy Baldwin, who currently serves in the House, representing the district that is dominated by Madison. She's never had to appeal to the people of the entire state, and from what I've seen of her, she's not really that good at glad-handing folks. Which is to say, Republicans should pick the candidate they really want, because he is going to win. No reason to go for the one who seems most electable. That's what I think.

Seems a little early to be crowing about polls - how many people outside Madison know anything about Tammy Baldwin right now? What would make her a stronger candidate against the Repubs than Feingold was?

"PS Garage needs to stop relying on KosKidz polls and at least go to Gallup, if not Rasmussen."

Nah. He's a weak, insecure creature and he needs to live in his comfortable little bubble. Honesty requires a modicum of courage and in his case that is simply not in the cards. There is no making bones for a jelleyfish.

Baldwin would be a nominal favorite against either of the other Republican Senate candidates. She leads Mark Neumann 47-41 and Jeff Fitzgerald 47-39. Neither Neumann (23/34) not Fitzgerald (19/38) has very good favorability ratings.

Maguro, I don't live in Madison. I live in Walkershaw county. What has changed since 2010 is that independant Wisconsinites have had their eyes opened. It's not what average income working Wisconsinites want.

I don't understand this notion that those outside of Madison aren't familiar with Tammy Baldwin. It's simply not accurate.

Nah. He's a weak, insecure creature and he needs to live in his comfortable little bubble. Honesty requires a modicum of courage and in his case that is simply not in the cards. There is no making bones for a jelleyfish.

Nice bit of projection there, "Paul". And posting as "Paul" on the internet, not THAT takes balls.

I don't understand this notion that those outside of Madison aren't familiar with Tammy Baldwin. It's simply not accurate.

Yeah, of course you're familiar with her since you're a political junkie, but most voters don't really know a whole lot about state senators from other districts. That's reflected in polling data that garage linked to - voters are far more familiar with Thompson than they are with Baldwin or the other Republican candidates. I can't believe you're actually disputing this.

Sorun, Milwaukee voters would never vote for Tommy Thompson, they will not care that she is a lesbian. I lived and worked in Milwaukee for many years. Tommy Thompson is not a popular figure in the inner city .

In an election year when Obamacare will be front and center, and approx. 60% of voters favor its repeal, remember that Tammy Baldwin supports not only Obamacare, but single-payer nationalized health insurance. Once the people of WI find this out - and they will, in spades - she's toast.

I saw one of Tommy's ads this past weekend. He looks dreadful. Sure, his hair isn't shoeblack any more, but his teeth are blindingly blindingly white. He just looks old.

Wisconsin needs a viable third Candidate. Someone with Baldwin's (relative) youth, Thompson's ace political glad-handing abilities, and fiscally conservative. They'd never make it through either of the party primaries, but they'd waltz through the General.

Thompson v Baldwin is just blah. I don't think either candidate will light a fire -- except the Gays will love Baldwin, but that's what -- 100K votes? BFD.

I also am enamored of Hovde because he is NOT a career politician. Don't we have enough of those?